Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 Alfetta
 |
|||||||||
| Constructor: |
Gioachino Colombo Alberto Massimino Luigi Bazzi |
||||||||
| Predecessor: | Alfa Romeo 12C | ||||||||
| Successor: | Alfa Romeo Tipo 158/159 | ||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chassis: | Tubular steel chassis with aluminum body | ||||||||
| Engine: | 8-cylinder in-line engine with 1479 cm³ displacement and Roots compressor |
||||||||
| Length: | 4200 mm | ||||||||
| Width: | 1550 mm | ||||||||
| Height: | 1120 mm | ||||||||
| Wheelbase: | 2502 mm | ||||||||
| Weight: | 700 kg | ||||||||
| Tires: | Pirelli | ||||||||
| Petrol: | Shell | ||||||||
| statistics | |||||||||
| Driver: |
 Emilio Villoresi Clemente Biondetti Luigi Fagioli Juan Manuel Fangio Nino Farina Reg Parnell Consalvo Sanesi Piero Taruffi Jean-Pierre Wimille Carlo Felice Trossi    
|
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| World Cup points: | - | ||||||||
| Podiums: | - | ||||||||
| Leadership laps: | k. A. / tba | ||||||||
The Alfa Romeo 158 was a Grand Prix racing car manufactured by Alfa Romeo from 1938 to 1950 . The car, also known as " Alfetta " (Italian: Kleiner Alfa, Alfachen), together with its further development, the Tipo 159 , is one of the most successful racing cars ever produced. Both types together achieved 47 wins in 54 races.
history
The Tipo 158 is considered to be the longest-running monoposto (single-seater) in the history of modern motor racing. For 13 years from 1938 to 1950 it was used in different versions around the world, but maintaining the original design principle, and is one of the cars that achieved the most successes in international automobile Grand Prix racing. The Tipo 158 was designed in the spring of 1937 in the workshop of Scuderia Ferrari , which at that time was Alfa Romeo 's testing and racing department headed by Gioachino Colombo . Colombo worked closely with the engineer Alberto Massimino , especially with regard to the chassis and the transmission .
The abbreviation 158 refers, as was widespread at the time, to the displacement of 1500 cm³ and eight cylinders.
technology
Even in the first tests on the test bench , the Tipo 158 showed good results in terms of performance and reliability: 180 hp were measured at 6500 rpm. Up to its first appearance on the track, 195 hp at 7000 rpm were achieved.
Right from the start, the car was designed for the so-called “ Voiturette Racing” (French: “Wägelchen”) formula that had been in force since 1938 . This formula allowed a maximum displacement of 1.5 liters and compressor, compared to the regulations of 3.0 liters with compressor (and 4.5 liters without) for Grand Prix cars. The engine was charged with a single-stage Roots compressor. The engines had 2 valves per cylinder with DOHC control (two overhead camshafts).
The front suspension was designed as a crank arm axle with transverse leaf springs as well as friction and hydraulic shock absorbers . At the rear, the Tipo 158 had a pendulum axle with a semi-elliptical transverse leaf spring and also friction and hydraulic shock absorbers. All wheels were equipped with hydraulic drum brakes.
In 1949 the car was adapted to the statutes of the new Formula A, later Formula 1, which equated cars with 1.5-liter supercharged engines with 4.5-liter naturally aspirated engines .
Racing history
1938: The Tipo 158 was officially used in racing on August 7, 1938, at the Coppa Ciano (also known as Coppa Montenero or Circuito Montenero). The race on the 5.8 km circuito di Montenero street circuit in Livorno lasted 25 laps (145 km) . Emilio Villoresi , first and Clemente Biondetti second, celebrated an impressive double victory for the first time.
1939: The next stage of development (the Tipo 158B, with an output of 225 hp at 7,500 rpm) won the Coppa Ciano again on July 30, 1939 and also the XV. Coppa Acerbo from Pescara on August 13, 1939, with Clemente Biondetti at the wheel. The political situation at that time (shortly before the beginning of World War II ) prevented further, then also international, successes.
1946: After the end of the war, racing returned to Europe, and the "Alfetta" (model 158/46 with 254 hp at 7,500 rpm and a weight of 630 kg), which was significantly improved compared to the pre-war model, won with Nino Farina the " I. Grand Prix des Nations " in Geneva on July 21st. With Carlo Felice Trossi in 2nd place and Jean-Pierre Wimille in third, a convincing performance was achieved. With Achille Varzi at the wheel, the 158 also won the III. Gran Premio del Valentino, which took place in Turin on September 1st, Jean-Pierre Wimille came second, also on Alfetta. With Trossi at the wheel, the Tipo 158 wins the III. Circuito di Milano on September 30th. His brand colleagues Achille Varzi and Consalvo Sanesi also took second and third place on the Tipo Alfetta.
1947: Thanks to the introduction of the two-stage Roots compressor, the output of the 158 / 46B model was increased to 275 hp in 1947 (still at the rated speed of 7500 rpm). This year the Tipo 158 won the following races: the 8th Grand Prix de Suisse on June 8th in Bremgarten with Jean-Pierre Wimille (2nd Achille Varzi and 3rd Carlo Felice Trossi, also on Alfetta); the VII. Grand Prix de Belgique on June 29th on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit , again with Jean-Pierre Wimille (2nd Achille Varzi and 3rd Carlo Felice Trossi, also on Alfetta); the 1st Gran Premio di Bari on July 13th with Achille Varzi (2nd Consalvo Sanesi with a second 158); and the XVII. Italian Grand Prix on September 7th in Milan. The victory goes to Carlo Felice Trossi, followed by 3 more Tipo 158: in 2nd place Achille Varzi, 3rd Consalvo Sanesi and in 4th place Alessandro Gaboardi.
1948: The Tipo 158/47 succeeded again in increasing the output to 315 hp (at 7500 rpm). This year the car wins the 8th Grand Prix de Suisse on July 4th in Bremgarten, with Carlo Felice Trossi ahead of Jean-Pierre Wimille, also on Alfetta. Achille Varzi, their teammate, had a fatal accident during training. The XXXV brought further victories . Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France on July 18 in Reims-Gueux with Jean-Pierre Wimille in front of Consalvo Sanesi and Alberto Ascari, all on Tipo 158; the XVIII. Italian Grand Prix , which took place in Valentino Park on September 5th and was won again by Jean-Pierre Wimille; and the Gran Premio di Monza , which took place on October 17th (Wimille before Trossi, Sanesi and Taruffi, all Alfa Romeo). With these results, Jean-Pierre Wimille became the most successful driver, and the Tipo 158 the dominant car of the season.
1949: The year began under extremely bad omen for Alfa Romeo: within a short period of time, the team lost two of its most important works drivers: on January 28, Jean-Pierre Wimille had afatal accidentduring a smaller race in Argentina, in which he competed privately, and on May 5th Carlo Felice Trossi loseshis battle with cancer at the age of only 41. In just a few months, the Alfa racing team that has dominated the past three racing seasons will practically disappear. It was therefore decided not to take part in any Grand Prix.
1950: In the first season of the newly announced Formula 1 World Championship , the Tipo 158 entered with a new line-up of drivers: alongside Nino Farina ,who had returned from Ferrari, and the not very young Luigi Fagioli (born 1898), an Argentinean one Driver who was relatively unknown in Europe until last season signed: Juan Manuel Fangio . With 350 HP at 8,600 rpm and a weight of only 700 kg, a power-to-weight ratio with a factor of 2 kg / HP, which was considerable for that time, was achieved. So the Alfa Romeo 158 had practically no real opponents and won 6 of the 7 Grands Prix of this first world championship season. It should be noted here that the Indianapolis 500 wasalso announced among the 7 advertised Grands Prix, in which, however, neither European teams nor drivers took part. At the last race of the season, the XXI. At the Italian Grand Prix , which took place on September 3rd at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza , the successor Alfa Romeo Tipo 159 made its first appearance. With Nino Farina at the wheel, he was able to seamlessly build on the previous series of successes and enabled Farina to win the 1st title of Formula 1 world champion . Fangio and Fagioli took second and third place.
Season overview: The Alfa Romeo 158 was in its 13th season in 1950, but at the same time at the peak of its performance:
- The first three places at the British Grand Prix on May 13, 1950: Nino Farina ahead of Luigi Fagioli and Reg Parnell.
- 1st place at the Monaco Grand Prix on May 21, 1950 with Juan Manuel Fangio.
- The first two places at the Swiss Grand Prix on June 4, 1950: Farina ahead of Fagioli.
- Double victory at the Belgian Grand Prix on June 18, 1950 with Fangio ahead of Fagioli
- Another double victory at the French Grand Prix on July 2, 1950: Fangio again ahead of Fagioli.
- 3rd place with Fagioli at the last appearance at the Grand Prix of Italy on September 3rd (the victory went to Tipo 159 with Farina).
- 5 fastest laps in 5 grands prix and 5 pole positions .
- The main qualities of this car, as reported by all the great drivers who could drive it, were performance, speed, reliability and its extremely good handling .
The Tipo 158 in the museum
An Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 (1938 version) driven by Nino Farina on display in the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena
Wins of the Tipo 158
Technical information
| Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 | |
|---|---|
| engine | 8-cylinder in-line engine (engine block and cylinder heads made of light metal) |
| Displacement | 1479 cc |
| Bore × stroke | 58.0 mm × 70.0 mm |
| Compression ratio | 6.5: 1 |
| Power at 1 / min | 350 hp (261 kW) at 8500 rpm |
| Specific performance | 237 hp dm −3 (174 kW dm −3 ) |
| Valve control | two overhead camshafts / 2 valves per cylinder |
| Mixture preparation | Carburetor |
| Engine charging | Roots compressor |
| cooling | water |
| transmission | 4-speed gearbox (rear wheel drive) |
| Brakes | Drum brakes on all wheels |
| Front suspension | Crank arm axle with transverse leaf spring, friction damper , hydraulic shock absorber |
| Rear suspension | Pendulum axle, semi-elliptical transverse leaf spring, friction and hydraulic shock absorbers |
| Body and frame | Aluminum body, tubular steel frame |
| wheelbase | 2502 mm |
| Track width front / rear | 1270 mm / 1321 mm |
| Dimensions L × W × H | 4200 mm × 1550 mm × 1120 mm |
| Empty weight without driver | 630 kg (1946) / 700 kg (1950) |
| Top speed | 290 km / h |
| Power to weight ratio | 0.555 hp / kg (409 W / kg) |
Web links
- Ultimatecarpage.com Articles, pictures and technical information on Type 158. Accessed July 2, 2020 (en).
- Alfa Romeo GP Tipo 158 "Alfetta" - 1950 "Walk around" on YouTube . Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- Alfa Romeo Alfetta 158 Drive at Jim Stokes Workshops Ltd. "Warm up" and driving recordings on YouTube . Retrieved July 3, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Note: Results of both types combined
- ↑ David Sparrow; John Tipler. Alfa Romeo Legends. Osprey, London 1996, ISBN 1-85532-646-9 .
- ^ CARS (PART 1) Alfa Romeo. Retrieved July 2, 2020 .
- ↑ a b 1938 - 1940 Alfa Romeo 158 'Alfetta' Specifications. Retrieved July 2, 2020 .
- ↑ 1938 - 1940 Alfa Romeo 158 'Alfetta' - Images, Specifications and Information. Retrieved July 3, 2020 .
- ↑ 1938 - 1940 Alfa Romeo 158 'Alfetta' - Images, Specifications and Information. Retrieved July 3, 2020 .
Current models:
Giulia |
Giulietta |
Stelvio
Historic car models (pre-war period): Alfa Romeo
brand :
15-20 HP |
20-30 HP |
20-30 ES Sport |
40-60 HP |
G1 |
RL / RM |
6C |
8C
Brand ALFA:
12 HP |
15 HP |
15-20 HP |
20-30 HP |
24 HP |
40-60 HP
Historic car models (post-war period):
6C |
1900 |
Matta |
Giulietta |
2000 |
2600 |
Giulia |
1750/2000 |
Montreal |
Alfasud |
Alfetta |
Sprint |
Romeo |
Giulietta type 116 |
Alfa 6 |
GTV |
Arna |
33 |
75 |
90 |
145 |
146 |
147 |
155 |
156 |
159 |
164 |
166 |
SZ |
RZ |
GT |
Brera |
Spider |
8C Competizione |
MiTo |
4C
Historic commercial vehicles (post-war period):
800 |
900 |
AR6 |
AR8 |
mille
Historic buses:
110 |
156 |
430 |
455 |
902 |
910 |
Macchi |
mille 8021 |
mille AV
Racing and racing sports cars:
“Grand Prix” (1914) |
P1 |
P2 |
8C 2300 "Monza" |
Tipo A |
Tipo B ("P3") |
Bimotore |
8C-35 (Tipo C) |
12C-36 (Tipo C) |
12C-37 |
Tipo 308 |
Tipo 312 |
Tipo 316 |
Tipo 512 |
Tipo 158 "Alfetta" |
Tipo 159 |
Tipo 160 |
Disco Volante |
Giulia TZ |
GTA |
Tipo 33 |
177 |
179 |
182 |
183T |
184T |
185T
Studies:
Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica |
Carabo |
Nuvola |
Scighera